Starting with photographic memory, I've worked my way up to become a martial arts immortal.

inside the house.

Four guests were seated in two rows of chairs.

Their temples were bulging, clearly indicating they were all skilled martial artists.

Yu Heng looked up and first looked away at the elderly man with gray hair sitting in the head seat.

This person is clearly the leader, and should be the strongest. He is also quite old, so he is usually a highly respected person.

Soon, his gaze settled on a dark-faced man at the last seat.

With his limited understanding, he naturally couldn't discern the varying levels of skill among the individuals, but he could make a rough judgment based on their seating arrangement.

Since you want to join their escort agency, the people here are all essentially examiners, so you should naturally perform well. It would be best to choose opponents who are weaker.

"Please, sir!" Yu Heng said, clasping his hands in greeting.

The dark-faced man seemed to have expected this, and laughed heartily as he stood up to return the greeting: "I am Li Lu, a bodyguard from the Fulin Escort Agency. Today, I will have the opportunity to spar with Brother Yu."

After saying that, he strode over to a spot a zhang in front of Yu Heng and assumed a fighting stance. "I practice the Mountain-Breaking Fist. Although this is a friendly exchange, fists and feet have no eyes, so I hope Brother Yu will be careful."

"Crane-style Fist, Yu Heng, I'd like to learn from Brother Li's superb skills!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped forward and chose to launch a surprise attack from the side. This Breaking Mountain Fist was clearly a style of fist technique that involved wide and sweeping movements, and directly confronting it head-on would be a bad strategy.

Yu Heng moved swiftly, arriving at Li Lu's side and lashing out with his whip.

"Snapped!"

A crisp, crackling sound rang out in the air.

This is the power of Ming Jin (明劲), which can mobilize the strength of the whole body to unleash a more powerful punch, and its destructive power is incomparable to that before.

Yu Heng was unsure of his opponent's strength and lacked practical experience in combat against martial artists of the same level, so he used a mid-to-long-range technique, such as whipping, as a way to test the waters.

"Good timing!"

Li Lu shouted loudly and threw a punch without any fear, which actually struck first despite being the one who was attacked later.

"Boom!"

The two fists collided with a dull thud, and Yu Heng took a step back, a red mark appearing on the back of his hand.

His expression changed, and he gritted his teeth, pulling away to attack again.

Wei Xuan sat high in the armchair, a smile still on his face, and shook his head almost imperceptibly.

After the punch, Li Lu felt more confident and loosened his grip a bit.

The two continued to exchange blows for several more times, with strong winds swirling in the air, making it a fairly even fight.

"drink--"

Yu Heng became more and more adept at the fight, and couldn't help but let out a hearty shout.

Li Lu saw it clearly, smiled to himself, and quickly jumped out of the circle.

He waved his hand and said, "Brother Yu, your skills are truly impressive. How about we call this spar a draw?"

"Alright." Yu Heng slowly finished his practice.

His face was flushed, and a layer of sweat had already seeped out of his forehead.

However, there was still a hint of joy in his eyes, as he felt he had performed well in this exchange.

Sun, the bodyguard sitting at the head of the table, exchanged a glance with Li Lu, put down his teacup, and said, "Master Wei, Li Lu is also a skilled fighter in my escort agency. Now that your disciple has just broken through to the Ming Jin level, he is already fighting him with great skill. It's true that a great teacher produces a great student."

Wei Xuan smiled and said, "Elder Sun, you flatter me. If Yu Heng is willing to join your Fulin Escort Agency, I hope Elder Sun will give him more training."

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said nothing more.

How could he not know the true strength of his own disciple? Among the newly promoted Ming Jin martial arts masters, he was only of average or below-average level and lacked practical combat experience.

Regardless of whether Li Lufang held back or not, if it were truly a life-or-death battle, he would probably be killed within five moves.

He sighed inwardly, thinking that no matter how good the boxing skills were, it all depended on who used them.

Sun, the bodyguard, nodded and said, "Brother Yu Heng, let me let you know that my Fulin Escort Agency is a well-known escort agency in Huguang County. There are three levels of treatment for our bodyguards. Since you have just broken through to the Ming Jin level, you will be treated as the third level. Your duties are also very simple. You don't need to stay at the escort agency on weekdays, but you need to be available whenever you are assigned a escort mission."

"I wonder how much the monthly salary is for this third-class treatment?" Yu Heng asked.

"The monthly salary is five taels of silver. Of course, according to the old rules, the salary of people who come from the White Crane Martial Arts School will be increased by 10%."

"This..." Yu Heng hesitated. He had heard in the inner courtyard today that a senior brother who was temporarily employed by another family received a monthly salary of eight taels.

He felt that his abilities were not bad, and he shouldn't have received so little.

He immediately looked at his master, but Wei Xuan didn't even glance at him, and just kept drinking his tea.

He could only steel himself and say, "Elder Sun, I haven't made up my mind yet. Could you allow me a few more days to consider it?"

"Can."

Sun, the bodyguard, was not disappointed. He chatted with Wei Xuan for a few more minutes before getting up to take his leave.

In his mind, he didn't care about these newly promoted martial arts masters with ordinary qualifications.

Escort agencies of their caliber never lack martial arts instructors to join them.

Even if Yu Heng joins the escort agency, he will need at least a year of training before he can be used, otherwise injuries and deaths are likely to occur during escort missions.

A monthly salary of five taels may not seem like much, but it adds up to more than sixty taels a year!

If an injury or death occurs by accident, the family will have to pay a large sum of compensation, which is quite costly.

Therefore, they are very cautious in recruiting martial arts instructors for temporary assignments. The reason they chose Yu Heng is to maintain the friendship between Baihe Martial Arts School and Yu Heng.

Wei Xuan stood up, saw the group to the door, and then returned inside.

Seeing Yu Heng still standing there, he said coldly, "Yesterday you begged me to find you a job, and when someone brought people over specifically for you, you politely refused? Are you dissatisfied? Do you know how many people want to get in but can't!"

"It's not that I'm dissatisfied," Yu Heng explained, bowing his head. "It's just that I feel the risks of being a bodyguard are too high, and the monthly salary they offer is a bit low. I might as well look at other companies."

Wei Xuan looked at his disciple and wanted to tell him that Fulin Escort Agency would not assign him dangerous escort missions at the beginning because of him, and that more experience would be good for him.

Once we become stronger, our monthly salary will naturally increase.

But the words that came out of his mouth meant something else entirely: "Then you'd better watch yourself."

Yu Heng left feeling depressed. After thinking it over, he felt that his master seemed to have a problem with him, especially after his falling out with Jiang Yuan.

Is it wrong for someone who has finally broken through to the Ming Jin level to want to find a job with a higher monthly salary?

He shook his head, feeling that Wei Xuan was showing too much favoritism towards Jiang Yuan, even sending his second senior brother to give him guidance, a privilege usually reserved for disciples with good aptitude.

This has already caused dissatisfaction among many disciples, who are not concerned about scarcity but about inequality!

How can a master not treat everyone equally?

He quickly walked out of the martial arts school, deciding to find a place to have a few drinks to relieve his frustration.

Since I've already broken through to the Ming Jin level, it won't be easy to advance to the next stage. After working so hard for so long, I should relax a bit.

They hadn't gone far when someone hurried up behind them. Yu Heng turned around alertly, his expression softening. "Zuo Qi, why aren't you practicing your skills? What are you doing out here?"

"I saw that my senior brother didn't look well, so I came over to check on him," Zuo Qi said with a smile.

Yu Heng waved his hand, "Hey, don't mention it, I'm going to have a drink, you should hurry back and practice your skills."

"Drinking? Come on, come on." Zuo Qi grabbed Yu Heng and started walking forward.

Yu Heng rolled his eyes and thought that having a drinking companion wouldn't be bad, so he agreed.

It wasn't mealtime, and the restaurant was deserted except for a few old drinkers.

The waiter led them directly to a window seat on the second floor.

At the table, Yu Heng downed the drink in his glass in one gulp, his face flushed red.

Zuo Qi picked up the wine pot and filled the cup, saying, "Senior brother, now that you mention it, Master is indeed biased. It was clearly that brat Jiang Yuan who came to provoke us first, but in the end, it was you who was in the wrong."

"Yeah, just because I'm the senior, does that mean I have to put up with that kid insulting me? That doesn't make sense anywhere. In this world, the weak should respect the strong. I did nothing wrong!"

Yu Heng felt even more frustrated when he recalled how Wei Xuan hadn't spoken up for him in front of the escort agency's people and had even made sarcastic remarks later.

"Senior brother, don't be so smug. Break that kid's limbs in a month and see if Master will still show favoritism to a cripple." Zuo Qi sneered.

"Don't even mention his four limbs, I'll break his fifth limb too, hehe." Yu Heng seemed to recall something amusing and chuckled.

Zuo Qi picked up his wine glass and took a sip. "Isn't Senior Brother worried that he'll break through to the Ming Jin realm in a month?"

"Impossible! His talent isn't even as good as mine. How could he possibly pass the test?" Yu Heng exclaimed confidently, extending his glass. "Drink! We won't leave until we're drunk!"

"It's better to be safe than sorry. With Master around, we can't do anything openly, but we can do something secretly..." Zuo Qi chuckled.

Actually, his closeness to Yu Heng was not without reason. The two were already on good terms. Now, he has been in the martial arts school for almost three months, but his progress in boxing is still slow.

His family was deceived and sold all their land to support his martial arts training. They would never be able to afford the tuition fees for the next training.

At this point, if you choose a powerful figure to cling to and become their follower, the people and things you come into contact with will be different. Even a little bit of what you have is enough to sustain you.

Of course, the first thing he needs to do is demonstrate his value.

Yu Heng raised his slightly droopy eyelids in confusion. "You mean you want me to secretly break his legs outside?"

"Of course not. If you really did that, Master and the others would immediately guess that it was you who did it," Zuo Qi said, shaking his head.

"Then what do you mean?" Yu Heng frowned.

A slight smile appeared on Zuo Qi's lips. "If we can't do it, we can let someone else do it."

"If someone else does it, the result will be the same. My master will suspect me. Even if he doesn't hold me accountable, he'll kick me out of the martial arts school, and my reputation will be ruined. There's no need for that."

Yu Heng wasn't stupid; he waved his hands repeatedly in refusal.

"What I mean is, using someone else to do the dirty work!"

How do I borrow it?

Zuo Qi felt he had piqued their interest enough, so he revealed his intentions: "Zhao Hui and Jiang Yuan are from the same place. I got a lot of information out of him. They have a Black Tiger Gang there, and they're very powerful."

"Use the Black Tiger Gang to deal with him?"

Zuo Qi nodded. "Zhao Hui and his family have been carpenters for three generations, which is how they managed to save up enough money to learn martial arts. Jiang Yuan used to be a laborer, so how much of what he earned actually ended up in his own pocket?"

"That's right, where did he get the money to come here and become a martial arts apprentice!" Yu Heng's eyes lit up.

Zuo Qi continued, "There's definitely something fishy going on here. It doesn't matter to us, but the Black Tiger Gang will definitely be interested. You wouldn't believe it, but those two came here to learn martial arts without daring to make a fuss. They have to be secretive every day when they go back. Isn't that because they're afraid the Black Tiger Gang will find out?"

"That makes sense!" Yu Heng patted Zuo Qi on the shoulder happily. "Good lad, continue!"

"If we tell the Black Tiger Gang about the situation, they will definitely go after Jiang Yuan. In the past, this kid would have been dead for sure."

"Now, the Black Tiger Gang might be mindful of the White Crane Martial Arts School and won't directly attack, but they'll definitely cause trouble behind the scenes. They don't want anyone daring to emerge from their territory, don't you think?"

"That's right. Even if nothing happens to him, he'll be disgusted enough that he won't have the mind to practice his boxing." Yu Heng agreed wholeheartedly.

"That makes sense. If things don't work out, it won't affect us at all. If they do, we can at least have some fun!" Zuo Qi laughed.

"Okay, let's get on with this after we finish our drinks!" Yu Heng immediately made the decision.

······

The backyard of the Black Tiger Gang's stronghold.

The windows and doors of a room were tightly closed, and intermittent, suppressed sounds could be heard from time to time.

After a long while, it finally quieted down inside.

Hou An lay on the couch, picked up the white jade pipe with his right hand, took a satisfying puff, and felt a wave of comfort wash over him.

His left arm was around a beautiful woman, and he was playing with her.

Suddenly, there was a series of urgent knocks on the door.

Hou An jumped out of bed in shock, then realized what was happening and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Jia Huan."

Hou An let out a long sigh, then said impatiently, "What is it? Don't you know I'm resting?"

"Brother An, it must be something urgent, otherwise why would I dare to bother you?" the voice continued.

"Then tell me!"

"Brother An, I need to talk to you about this in person."

Hou An frowned, patted the plump woman beside him, and whispered, "Sister-in-law, I have something to do. Why don't you go back through the secret door first?"

The beautiful woman rolled her eyes and protested, "I'm not going back. He hasn't come in a long time, and I'm too bored at home alone."

"Then hide in the closet and don't make a sound," Hou An said helplessly.

The beautiful woman reluctantly got up and walked into the wardrobe. Hou An quickly gathered her clothes and stuffed them into the quilt.

He opened the door and there stood a frail-looking young man.

"Come in, you'd better really have something to say!"

Hou An glared at Jia Huan, then picked up the teapot on the table, gulped down the entire tea, and finally let out a satisfied sigh.

"Speak up, what are you waiting for?"

Hou An saw that the other party was still standing there dumbfounded and said impatiently.

"Brother An, take a look at this."

Jia Huan pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over.

Hou An took it, flipped it open, smelled it, and finally threw it at the young man's face.

"Are you an idiot? Don't you know I can't read!" Hou An said angrily.

Jia Huan scratched his head and repeated the contents of the book.

"What? Two more martial arts school disciples have appeared in Pingkangfang?" Hou An was immediately shocked upon hearing this.

In the outer city, it was common for people to enroll in martial arts schools to learn martial arts, but for it to happen in Pingkang Ward indicated his dereliction of duty.

This shows that he didn't have enough control over the residents of the neighborhood and hadn't thoroughly exploited them, allowing them to afford to learn martial arts. If Master Liu found out about this, he'd probably skin him alive...

"No, we can't let Third Master know," Hou An thought to himself.

He quickly calmed down and came up with a plan.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally summoned his subordinates and gave them the instructions for the plan.

If the problem can't be solved, why not just get rid of the people?